


Togetherness

by HogwartsToAlexandria



Series: Marie's BBB Fills 2019 [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 12:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18521230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HogwartsToAlexandria/pseuds/HogwartsToAlexandria
Summary: "Man, he's not ok--”“I figured.” Steve answers looking Sam straight in the eye, his whole stance taut and ready, “Get out of my way, please?”Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019 Fill, B4: "Missing You"





	Togetherness

**Author's Note:**

> 2nd Fill, 2nd Stucky, hope you like it!
> 
> Again, thank you to SerenaLunera for the cheer and beta work ❣

There's a gash that spreads from his left shoulder to the middle of his back, courtesy of the monstrous alien Steve's had to take one-on-one waiting for T'Challa to be done with his own. The entire upper chest area  of his uniform is torn - Tony will want to take a look at it to see where exactly the fabric gave but that's the very last thing on Steve's mind as he unboards the helicopter back at the compound. 

The mission took them way more time than they'd anticipated, a whole of three days spent battling, spying and battling again against an enemy far better organized than they'd planned for. Three days instead of the mere few hours he'd told Bucky it would take, had assured him he'd be back after. His suit can wait and it will. 

There's a bunch of people waiting for them down the platform of the heliport but Steve waves them off quickly, none of them matter, the one and only person that matters isn't among them. He bypasses the crowd, his jaw still squared with the tension he accumulated as he fought and both journalists and newer avengers get the message, they let him be and switch targets - Thor will handle that nicely. 

It's a little trek towards the most private rooms of the buildings, the one Tony designed specifically for the team and Steve takes long, determined strides. He hopes he'll find Bucky lounging on the couch with a Disney movie or another playing in the background. He doesn't manage to fool even himself. 

The couch is empty save for a few abandoned blankets and same goes for the kitchen. He makes his way down the corridor leading to everyone's suites and stops dead in his tracks. 

“Steve--” Nat's face is livid and the way his heart jumps in his throat is but his normal reaction. He knows what she's going to say. 

“Where is he?” and even he can tell his voice is colder than ice but he doesn't care much for Sam flinching behind Natasha right now. 

“Your bedroom. But, man, he's not ok--”

“I figured.” Steve answers looking Sam straight in the eye, his whole stance taut and ready, “Get out of my way, please?” 

He doesn't wait for their answers, he barely waits for them to step aside. He walks on and to the door that leads to the broken man he loves so much it already hurts just imagining what he's going to find. 

Steve takes the handle of the door, extra careful not to clench his fingers too hard around it as he pushes it open. He treads carefully across the carpet, leaves his shield by the door and closes it again with one last look into the worried faces of his friends. It's not fair that he resents them for not managing to take care of Bucky when he knows only he can do it, but he still feels disappointed, a little gutted that they couldn't do better. 

The door clicks shut and Steve takes a deep breath. He knows where he'll find Bucky, where he always finds him during or after crisis hit. 

He's huddled in a ball of himself staring at the fire raging in the glassed fireplace on the other side of the bed. His chin is hidden behind his knees and his prosthetic is nowhere to be seen. That's not a surprise either, Bucky always ends up rejecting help in all its forms when he gets like this, lost in hurt and loneliness and eventually, self-loathing. Steve's breath is shallow when he takes the first step and he has to remind himself that he is supposed to be strong, that in the here and now it's his role to be Bucky's anchor. He cannot stop to think about how this might not even have happened had he stayed behind, stayed with him in the first place, although that will come later - this is not the time. 

It's anyone's guess how Bucky will react to Steve approaching him right now but he has to try and so he stealthily takes step after step until he can kneel facing Bucky's side. He wants to take him into his arms, embrace the sorrow away but that would be stupid. He lifts his arm up until he can brush over the glove covering Bucky's shoulder instead, just a small touch, just a butterfly kiss of his fingers to Bucky's body, but persistent, not fleeting, grounding. 

Bucky's brow furrows at the feeling and Steve takes a deeper breath, lets his fingers turn into his palm and slide gently to the base of the man’s neck, never circling, just grazing, careful and patient. 

Bucky's eyes dart from the flames to Steve's knees and that's Steve's cue. 

“Hello love,” it’s a whisper that doesn't await an answer, Steve knows he won't get one, it's not why he's talking in the first place. Forget communication purposes, this is just acknowledging the being that is this man, giving him the softest base to land back on when he's ready, granting him the simplest gift of telling him he's seen and important when he's had to go without it for so long it still catches up to him. 

After a while Steve sits down with his legs on either side of Bucky, one at his back and one by his folded legs, not quite touching but encasing him from a few inches of distance. His hand is still set atop Bucky's shoulder, the pads of his fingers kneading the curve where it becomes neck now and Bucky lets out a sigh that feels like winning for Steve. 

He lets his hand glide down the large expanse of the other man's back, his whole body inching closer until he can carefully rest his chin just past the heaviest lines of scarring he knows hide underneath the glove. He hums gently, he doesn't even know what but it sounds like it could be a nursery rhyme from his childhood, or a 40’s classics he's forgotten he knows. It seems to settle Bucky a little more and that's all Steve meant by it.

After a while he lets his other arm come to play because that's all he can do not to wrap himself all around Bucky and squeeze until the man has a space carved out in Steve's body where he'll be able to live unharmed and loved for as long as he wants. He lets his arm creep slowly towards Bucky's knees, careful neither to jostle nor spook the man as it comes into his field of vision. 

For some reason, Steve's found Bucky is more easily scared off in times like this by contact he can anticipate rather the touches he doesn't see coming. His hand clasps around Bucky's right calf, fingers wedging their way between said calf and the back of his thigh, the whole of his forearm pressed against Bucky's legs now. 

“You're okay. I'm okay, too.” Steve presses a soft kiss on the knot of Bucky's jaw, uncaring of the wild strands of hair that get caught in between his lips and the man's skin. He closes his eyes in the movement, strokes his forehead against Bucky's temple, “Come back to me when you're ready.”

He's managed to bring them to a full hug even as Bucky hasn't moved from his original position but Steve can feel the way tension ever so slowly seeps out of his body, how every last one of his muscles unclenches and after a period of time he doesn't care to quantify Bucky rests his cheek against his forehead and they both breathe much more easily.

The room is heavy with warm silence when Bucky finally manages to rasp a few words and Steve drinks them in even as he feels his heart squeeze tight in his chest, “I missed you.” 

He tightens his arms around the now pliant body of his love, “I missed you, too.” He kisses Bucky's temple.

 

**Author's Note:**

> More soon, how was this?
> 
> Also find me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hogwartstoalexandria)


End file.
